There is a small harbor at the entrance to Tracy Arm. We pulled in, foggy and rain, very limited visibility. As with entering any new harbor we proceeded slowly using our Chartplotter and our I-pad with Navionics. Nobody here! What tha heck.

Of all the cruises here in Alaska, we thought this harbor would be full since it's the entrance to Tracy Arm, access to both the Sawyer North and South glaciers. We had just gotten settled, boats started arriving, another and another and another, now there were eight boats; we feel better. It's always reassuring when we make an anchoring decision to have it chosen by others as well.

At the end of this Arm, a channel between granite walls rising several thousand almost vertical feet, is the Sawyer glacier. I can't imagine how slow-moving ice can carve through the granite leaving the walls so smooth. We think in terms of lifetimes, my sense is this glacier thinks in terms of millions of years. I hope the pictures help tell the story.

Halfway into the Arm we started encountering ice bergs, small ,visible, and avoidable. Most were white easy to spot, the clear ones, the dangerous ones kept us on our feet staring forward. Further along they grew and became more closely packed. Slow down, turn off the autopilot, dodge left then right. Both Alice and I were intensely focused on the water 100 to 200 feet in front of the boat. Two thirds in it started to be too difficult to find a path. Go forward in idle, neutral, go again stop, us the bow thruster to avoid, and finally this conservative captain decided getting closer to the South Sawyer was not going to happen. We could see it and it was massive, yet New World's fiberglass is no match for all the ice.

We observed that one very large cruising yacht launched two small outboards for owner and guests to travel closer to the glacier's face dodging ice bergs along the way. If we only had the money to buy a bigger yacht and tow a suitable dinghy, we might have done the same, oh well such is not the case right now.

About face, and head for the north glacier and were we surprised. Reports were that this glacier had receded, and was land bound. Not the case as we arrived. It was also massive, right at the water edge and we could maneuver to within a quarter of a mile before the depth got a little dicey, that is shallow. So, we cut the engine and sat, listening to the glacier. Rifle shot cracks but no calving. This face was magnificent, the ice was climbing over rocks, and it appeared as though it was ready to spew forth tons of ice.

It wasn't a beautiful sunny day; in fact, it was cloudy and foggy and yet Alice and I were awed by the magnificence. Waterfalls spewing forth thousands of gallons of snow melt, vertical walls so steep that the water cascaded at speeds such when it hit hard rock it would explode. And the snow and ice. These are the reasons we choose to cruise. To explore these remote untouched areas, so beautiful, so remote, and spiritual.

Now we are back at the entrance anchorage. Another dozen boats, some heading into the Arm, some finished and heading north or south. For us on New World, we are still heading north. Taku Harbor is next and then Juneau, the Capital. After that it's Glacier National Park. WOW!!